Eyes Wide Open
by CityCountryLife
Summary: It's been 9 long months. Sometimes you just have to move on with the people you love no matter how hard it may be. Contains Spoilers for the S. 5 finale Flack/OC, D/L
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome! I'll make this a/n quick and just say sit back, relax and enjoy. :)

Full Summary: It's been a long 9 months since that fateful day. Sometimes it's just about moving on with the ones you love. [Spoilers for Season 5 finale]

Rating: T for language

Pairings: D/L, Flack/OC (later chapters), other possibilities

Disclaimer: I only own Brye Burgess and Erin Hamshira. All others belong to CBS.

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* * *

The last time Don Flack had seen his father like this was when Sam was born. _

_Don couldn't sleep. He had rolled out of bed after hours of staring at the ceiling and headed downstairs to the kitchen for a glass of water in hopes that it would help him sleep. When he got to the kitchen and poked his head in, he saw that he wasn't the only person having sleeping troubles. _

_Don's father, Donald Flack Sr. was sitting at the small table in the middle of the kitchen, a bottle of beer in front of him and a look of exhaustion etched on his face. Don licked his lips and silently slipped into the kitchen; his father to deep in his own thoughts to hear his son wandering the kitchen. At least that's what Don thought. _

"_You couldn't sleep, either?" _

_Don jumped at the sound of his father's voice. He carefully placed the glass filled with water on the counter and nodded his head. _

"_Yeah." _

_Silence hung between the two before Flack Sr. patted the chair next to him and said, "Sit down." _

_Don grabbed his glass and set it on the table before quietly sitting down in the chair. _

"_You want to talk about it?" Flack Sr. asked and Don shrugged his shoulders. _

"_There's nothing to talk about. I'm just having some problems sleeping, that's all." Don said and his father nodded before taking his bottle of beer and holding it up to his lips for a sip. He licked his lips and slowly set the bottle down and rubbed his temples. _

"_You alright?" Don asked and Flack Sr. looked at his son. _

_Flack Sr. shook his head, "Just a rough day, that's all." _

_Again, silence had settled between the two before Don spoke up again, "You want to talk about it?" _

_Flack. Sr quickly shook his head, "It's just a case that's really getting to me, that's all." He said and Don nodded. When it came to Flack Sr.'s work, Don knew to leave the subject when it got personal; but this time, Flack Sr. just didn't leave it. _

"_A 17 year old and a 22 year old." He said quietly with the shake of his head and another sip of his beer, "I guess you'll see it tomorrow on the front page of the _Daily News,_ so what's the harm in telling you now." _

_Flack Sr. set down the beer and leaned back in his chair as Don's attention perked up. _

"_Two siblings decided to go for a walk in Manhattan tonight. Just something simple." Flack Sr. shook his head and continued, "Both were walking down 32__nd__ when the shots rang out. The brother died in his sister's arms." _

_Don didn't speak for a moment before he said, "Who were they?" _

_Flack Sr. sighed, "The brother was 22 and his name was Matthew. The girl was 17…" Flack Sr. voice faded as he shook his head. _

_Don knew the effect something like this could have on his father, "She really stuck with you." _

_Flack Sr. nodded, "I know you want to go to the Academy, but I warn you. You become a homicide detective; it's these type of things that just don't leave you quickly. That girl. Her face; the fear and shock that was on that face. I could only think of you and your sister." _

_Flack Sr. shook his head and drained the rest of his beer, "We should both be getting to bed. You have to get to school tomorrow." _

"_Will she be alright?" Don asked. _

_Flack Sr. shrugged, "We'll see, we'll see." _

_Almost 11 years later, _Don was able to see what happened to that girl.

Don Flack and Brye Burgess met a week after the murder of Brye's older brother, Matthew Burgess. Both had met in school; neither had known they had been in the same grade for the past few years. Don Flack was captain of the basketball team and popular while Brye was the definition of the outcast. Her father had gotten a job in New York City when she was 14 and when she moved up from the West Coast, she was never able to fit in with anyone.

Now, Don and Brye sat across each other in the break room at the NYC Crime Lab, both comparing notes on a case they were working. Don had followed in the footsteps of his father and was one of the top detectives in the NYPD while Brye took the job as a Lab Tech and along with Adam, managed to get into plenty of trouble, but solve the case at the end of the day.

"I'm still convinced that the boyfriend did it." Don said as he sat back in the chair.

Brye shook her head, "No, Don, look at the evidence. Nothing here says that he was at the crime scene. He has no M/O and you saw what he pulled out of his pocket during interrogation, a wedding ring. I'm positive that a boyfriend does not drop a few grand on an engagement ring and then turn around and kill his girlfriend."

Don sighed, "He has a weak alibi, and no one can prove he was at that bar."

"So you're going to go after him because he has a weak alibi?"

"I'm going old school."

Brye frowned and slammed the folder shut, "You're impossible."

"I'm just saying that the fingerprints you took from him are going to come back and be a positive match to the prints we found on the murder weapon. When it does, what will you have to say in his defense?" Don asked.

Brye frowned and slipped out of the stool she was sitting on and grabbed the file, "I'm going to check on Danny and those fingerprints and I'm going to prove you wrong." She said as she turned on her heel and left the break room.

Don shook his head and followed Brye to Trace where Danny and now, Brye, were sitting at a computer. Brye had a triumphant look on her face and Don knew that meant one thing, she was right.

He poked it head into Trace and asked, "So, what's the final verdict?"

Danny waved him in as Brye smiled and turned to say, "I was right. AFIS coughed up another name that does not belong to the boyfriend."

"It belongs to a Rocco Price. Convicted of public indecency, assaulting an officer and a couple of unpaid parking tickets." Danny said and he smiled, "I guess Burgess was right again, Flack."

Don shrugged, "What can I do. Messer, shotgun?" he asked and Danny nodded.

"I'll meet you at the car." He said and Don left Trace as Brye sat back in her chair, her hands behind her head as she smiled.

"Do you know how good it feels to put one in his face?" Brye asked and Danny shot Brye a side look and gave a small smile.

"Yeah, but I like it so much better when I one up him with girls." Danny said and Brye snickered.

"1. You're sounding like Adam and 2. You're married." Brye said and Danny shrugged.

"I was talking about the ole' days, okay?" Danny said as he stood up and Brye nodded.

"Alright, alright. Tell me how it goes with our friend, Price. I'm going to see if Adam needs any help with the evidence that Mac just brought in." Brye said and Danny nodded.

"Will do."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_2 months later_

Erin Hamshira sat at the far end of the bar, a bottle of beer sitting in front of her. She sat back on the stool, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the activity around her. A golf match and a baseball game were playing on two, small screens that were sitting right next to one another and several people sat at the bar, or small tables scattered around the area. When the front door of the bar opened and closed, Erin didn't move an inch until she heard someone sitting next to her. She looked up and rolled her eyes at Brye who was sitting next to her, stealing sips of her beer.

"That's my beer."

Brye smiled and shrugged, "So?" she asked as she took another sip of the beer.

Erin watched her friend for a moment before saying, "You're in a good mood."

Brye leaned back and set the beer in front of Erin, "Yeah, sorry about last night. I was…" she paused and frowned before continuing, "Stressed."

"Anything I could help you with?" Erin asked, but Brye waved her off.

"No, I'm good. How's that job search going for you? You haven't given me an update in… what, a month?" Brye asked.

"I think I found something." Erin said with a huge smile and Brye turned in her chair.

"Alright, you going to tell me what it is or am I going to play the guessing game until the bartender gets back here?" Brye said.

Erin smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, "I guess you're going to have to guess until your boyfriend gets back."

Brye frowned, "Mark's working and he left the bar open, again?" she asked and gently smacked the palm of her hand to her forehead, "What am I going to do with that man?" she quietly asked herself and Erin sat beside her, laughing.

10 minutes later, a young man slipped into the bar and behind the bar counter, grabbing a beer and placed it in front of one of the customers who said, "Again? Why you always runnin' off when I need another beer?"

The man smirked and shrugged, "It's so I can make sure you're still alive."

The customer took the bottle of beer and chuckled as he raised the bottle to his lips, "Your girlfriend is sitting over there." He said as he nodded his head over to the other end of the bar. The younger man looked down the bar and smiled and shuffled over to the end where he pulled out two bottles of beer and placed them on the counter of bar.

"Anything else ladies?" he asked with a smirk and Erin rolled her eyes.

"Mark, stop it with the flirting. You and Brye have been serious since we got out of college." Erin said with a sigh.

Mark raised an eyebrow, "Maybe I found someone else." he said staring Erin down before making a face and leaning back, "No. I'm joking."

"You better be joking." Brye mumbled and Mark leaned across the bar to kiss her on the cheek.

Erin smiled and took a sip of her beer when she heard Brye's phone go off. With a sigh, Brye grabbed for the phone and sighed, "Got a 419 in the Bronx. They want me to met Mac there." She said as she slipped off the bar stool and placed her phone into her pocket.

"How come they have you working the 419's?" Mark asked.

"Lindsay's still on Maternity leave and Danny has 2 more weeks of Paternity leave still left. Adam and I are helping to pick up the slack." Brye said as she grabbed her jacket and slipped it on.

Seconds later, Erin's phone rang and she grabbed it to see that she was working, too.

"Don't leave without me." She said as she too stood up and grabbed her jacket.

Brye frowned, "What do you mean by that, Er?"

Erin placed her phone into her pocket then said, "I'm the new ME."

Brye grinned and gave a small squeal before giving her friend a hug, "I'm so happy for you!" she said with a smile before hugging Erin again.

Mark shook his head as the two women left the bar.

"Hey! Another beer sometime soon would be fantastic!"

Mark looked down the bar, spotted an overexcited customer, and sighed,

"Shove it asshole or you won't be getting anything."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, okay. It's been forever since I updated, and the next chapter will take me a while because I just don't have the time right now because of school. So, once that is over with, I'll try to get Chp. 3 up as soon as I can. Thanks for the reviews and hits and such, thank you!

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"No way."

Erin peered out the window of the car and frowned before turning back to Brye.

"What is this place?" Erin asked as the car pulled up to the curb and Brye turned off the engine.

"Lucky Cheng's." Brye answered as she pulled the keys out of the ignition and opened the car door.

"What's so important about Lucky Cheng's?" Erin asked as she closed the door and followed Brye to the crime scene tape, which both proceeded to duck underneath.

Brye shrugged as they opened the front door of the restaurant, "No one would tell me."

Erin rolled her eyes as they entered the restaurant and stopped at what they saw. Flack was talking to four waitresses on the side of the restaurant; all of them dressed in either short dresses or leather pants. The walls were painted with silhouettes of women and a young woman sat at a podium, looking very bored.

"You police?" the woman asked.

Brye nodded, "Crime Scene." Brye pointed to Erin, "ME."

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes, "That bitch deserved what she got. No one here liked her anyway." She said as she examined her fingernails, "Maybe it's better for everyone."

Brye exchanged looks with Erin and without another word, both headed to the back of the restaurant where they saw Mac standing up and walking around the area.

"Hey Mac, what do we've got?" Brye asked and Mac looked up.

"Dead body." He stated in a monotone voice causing Brye to frown.

"I got that part." Brye mumbled causing Mac to smirk.

"Have Flack catch you up on what he knows and I want you to start processing this place, alright? Hawkes is on his way to help you out." Mac said and Brye nodded.

"Alright."

Mac turned to Erin, "You must be the new ME. Mac Taylor." He said as he stretched out his hand.

"Erin Hamshira." Erin said as she shook Mac's hand.

"Nice to meet you; your case is over there and the body is all yours." Mac said and Erin nodded as she walked over to the case and pulled out a pair of gloves to begin to process the body.

On the other side of the restaurant, Brye was standing next to Flack as he received statements from the waitresses before he said it was alright to leave. The three women walked off, quietly talking to one another as Flack turned to Brye with a groan.

"I still have 8 people to get statements from." He mumbled at he rubbed his eyes with his hand.

"Late night?" Brye asked with a rise of her eyebrow.

Flack nodded, "Didn't sleep. I was at work at 4 this morning."

"You really, really need to talk to someone. You can't keep going on like this." Brye said quietly and Flack shook his head.

"I'm fine; I don't need to talk to anyone about anything." Flack growled and Brye frowned.

"It's been 8 months and your still in your dark corner pitting yourself." She paused as she carefully studied his face before shaking her head, "Sorry for asking." Brye licked her lips and quickly collected herself and asked, "Alright, what happened and what have you heard?"

"Vic was giving a lap dance, the famous transsexual lap dance only offered at Lucky Cheng's, to a young male. Afterwards, she started complaining about pain, collapsed, and became a DOA." Flack explained.

"Where did the lap dance happen?" Brye asked and Flack pointed to a chair at the end of the room; it had been knocked over.

Brye bit her lip and nodded, "Sounds good. I'm going to go and… run this place over with a comb." She mumbled and headed over to the chair to begin processing.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

4 hours later, after back breaking work and going over the restaurant more than once, Hawkes and Brye were packing up their cases and sorting out the evidence they had collected before they headed back to the lab. Hawkes walked out of the door carrying both of their cases and Brye stumbled out, carrying a box filled to the top with evidence.

"Hawkes, did you really need to collect all this… crap?" Brye asked Hawkes opened the back of the Avalanche and Brye placed the box on the back of the truck.

"I'm positive that this evidence can help us. Trust me." Hawkes said and Brye sighed.

"You know, that place was a little bit of a dive. I mean anything there could have been evidence. Nothing seemed to fit in." Brye said as she pushed the box into the bed of the truck and Hawkes closed the back.

Hawkes shook his head, "You need to stop picking at my antics, alright?"

Brye smiled as she headed to the passenger door, opened the door, and jumped in, "Sorry, Hawkes. I just find it really easy to make fun of you."

Hawkes climbed into the driver's seat and turned the car on, "You listen to Danny way to much."

"Now that is not true." Brye quickly defended herself causing Hawkes to smirk as he pulled the car into the busy streets.

The drive back to the lab was quick and soon the two were hauling the box up to the lab to get ready to process. Hawkes took several Trace evidence and disappeared into trace leaving Brye to work with the few security cameras that the restaurant had and the fingerprints they collected. As she placed the fingerprints into a scanner, she pulled out her iPod, placed the ear buds in her ear and turned the music up as loud as she could.

The minutes ticked as Brye worked in the A/V lab, working with the low quality film she had to work with. She was able to see what this restaurant was all about and Brye had to laugh. She soon felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around to find Mac standing behind her, an eyebrow raised. Brye pulled out her ear bud and said, "I managed to find a security camera that is able to get some of the lap dance."

"Lap dance?" he asked and Brye nodded.

"Our vic just finished giving one of the famous 'Lucky Cheng's Transsexual Lap Dances' before she died." Brye explained and pointed to the screen, "I'm trying to get an ID on the guy so we can ask him a couple of questions, no hits in our databases yet." She said.

Mac nodded, "Alright. Erin just finished her autopsy."

"COD?"

"Poison."

Brye bite her lip and leaned back in her chair, carefully playing with her headphones, "I'm thinking that the receiver of our lap dance just became our prime suspect. Though it all depends on how fast acting the poison was."

Mac nodded, "Our vic's blood is up in TOX right now. We'll see what happens." Mac looked at the screen and pointed to it, "When you get a positive ID, get back to me. I want to get this guy quick."

Brye nodded as she watched her boss walk out of the A/V lab and leaned back in her chair, placing the ear bud back in her ear, mumbling to herself.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Erin opened the door to her locker, dropped several pieces of extra clothes in her locker, and grabbed her jacket and several other things she needed so she could go home. She heard the door to the locker room open and Brye walked in, practically kicking her locker open and grabbed her wallet.

Erin frowned, "What's up?" she asked and Brye held up her phone.

"It died. It died a slow and painful death." Brye said with a sad smile and a shake of her head.

Erin smiled and leaned against her locker as she watched her friend flip through her wallet, trying to find something.

"I told you to replace that phone years ago. How did it break?" Erin asked.

"I dropped it and Stella stepped on it. By accident; it began to make funny noises and flash at me and then it just… died." Brye said, "I think I have a coupon for half off a phone at Verizon or some other promotional thing. Mark said that it might be a good idea to replace the phone sometime in the next couple of weeks."

"And you finally decided to listen to him." Erin said and Brye just shrugged.

"He has his moments." Brye grumbled.

"You guys find the killer?" Erin asked as she opened up her locker again and grabbed her purse before closing it again.

"Flack and Mac are in interrogation right now with the guy. We have the evidence to convict him, but it is all going to depend if he confesses. The guy is a real piece of work." Brye said with the shake of her head.

"That's too bad. The parents came and claimed the body. It was a good first day of work, that's for sure." Erin said and Brye gave a sympathetic nod.

"It's always hard watching the parents ID the body. Not my favorite part of the day." Brye grumbled, "Well, wanna come to the Verizon store and help me pick out a new phone?" Brye asked as she stuck her wallet in her pocket and grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it over her head.

Erin smiled and pulled out her jacket from her locker, "Sounds good. I'll buy dinner."

"Yum. Oh, and no Blackberry's, all right? I'm not into that stuff like you are." Brye said and Erin shook her head, grabbed her friend's hand, and pulled her out of the locker room.


End file.
